Sunday, December 19, 2010

Pen Pal Book

Hello and welcome to the review of Pen Pal Book: the newsletter.Here's the basic information that I came across to:

PenPal Book, Issue 29

"It is hard to find people who still like to do snail mail, so I have a newsletter I send out in January, April, July & Oct. To get a copy it is $12 black or $18 color for one issue. To get 4 issues its $20 black or $25 color. Its like buying two and getting two FREE. Personal ads are FREE to be put in, but Business ads are 5 cents per word/ symbols/ name & address. I take Cash, Checks & Money orders in my name Kimberly Garigin. This is a hobby and not a business. Address: Kimberly Garigin, 3726 Green Pond RD, Gray Court, SC 29645 If you buy 4 or more issues you get a 2 raffle tickets, a gift, a membership card, ads to hand out to friends, pals or family. Movie, comic & Music sheets to earn credit towards discounts on issues or get them FREE. Post cards of credit you can earn. A coupon to save money on your next order and more!!! I do take PayPal payments just let me know through my email. If you don't send me money through your checking or banking account paypal takes $3.20 away from me for a fee. So if your sending through a credit card please add $3.20 to the total so I don't pay a fee...."

It sounded really interesting, so I went ahead and contacted the owner - Kimberly, who was really friendly and easy to talk to. She agreed to give me this exclusive interview for the readers of PenPal Magazine's Blog.

Maxine: Hello, Kimberly and welcome to my blog PenPal Magazine.

Kimberly: Hello, Maxine thanks for having me.

Maxine:Tell us more about your newsletter? How did the idea about the newsletter came to be?

Kimberly: Back in 2002 I saw an ad for a newsletter. At that time I didn't know people did newsletters so I decided to subscribe to check it out. Once I started getting it, it looked weak. More like copies of papers. I was told by the Editor to send stuff in, but never saw my stuff. I even asked for the stuff back and didn't get it. So I decided to start my own! In Oct 2003 I had my first issue done and started advertising with other Editors from that newsletter and that's how my newsletter got off the computer. "The Pen Pal Book" has changed over the years due to subscribers giving me advise and I have been working with other Editors to make it more like a magazine. I have known most of the Editors from the start.

Maxine: Tell us more about the newsletter itself and a bit about its history?

Kimberly: I started it Oct 2003, comes out Jan. Apr. July & Oct. I put Personal ads, as well as inmates ads even though I tell them my subscribers don't write to inmates. I put Business ads along with poems, stories, articles, and anything else that people send me in the mail, email or stuff I find that sound interesting. I even started doing raffles where subscribers can win!! I thought it would be cool to give out ribbons to subscribers who send stuff to me and at the end of the year hand out trophies for the subscriber that has been with me since the start, and who has sent me the most reviews and stuff.

Maxine: What columns/pages can we expect in PenPal Book?

Kimberly: I will always have Personal and business ads. I try to always have Quiz's, Fun pages. There is 3 months in the newsletters so my January issue has Jan, Feb & March. I also try to have Movie Reviews, Comics, TV Reviews, Music Reviews. I always have "Say it with words" where other subscribers can talk to each other or to me. I have Surveys that one subscriber sent me and Senior jokes, which doesn't always have jokes for kids so parents are ready!! I use to have Oprah & Sylvia Browne, but it was to time consuming for me since the past two years have been bad. In the past two issues have had Raffles, ribbons & trophies....When a Celebrity died and it is someone everyone knows like Patrick Swayze, Michael Jackson, Ed McMahon, Farrah Faucett, and many more we have lost this past year I try to do an article on that person or people. I even put their photos in.

Maxine: Do you have any issues that are available on-line so that we can look at them before ordering?

Kimberly: I am sending you 2 of my issues to look at and I could send a free issue for people to get in their e-mail account. To continue to get it in the e-mail it would be $7 plus $3 to ship any prizes they get in the raffles. This is 4 issues a year. As long as they saw the article from your website and send me their e-mail they can get one of my issues free depending on what issue I am on. Just have them put in the Subject PPB and let me know they saw my article and I will send them the issue as long as they can see Microsoft works. You can put my e-mail on your site.

Maxine: One question that I am sure that most people are wondering, do you have to pay to get your ad in your newsletter?

Kimberly: Personal ads are very welcome and there is no Fee, how ever since my newsletter is a Hobby so I make money off the Business ads and subscribers. The good news is when people subscribe they can earn credit for sending stuff to me. The credit to me is like money, 20 cents for a poem, Joining is $1.50, Jokes 10 cents and so forth. They can use the credit as soon as they get it or save them up to earn free issues or a one time free subscription. Once they get the free subscription after that they only pay half price for the subscriptions each year. All the money I get go towards Ink, paper, envelopes, postage, ribbons, trophies and many more. I am disabled so I don't make or get much money. I have been Pen palling since I was 15, so I know how important it is to help other people find pen pals.

Maxine: Do you search for any guest writers?

Kimberly: No, any of my subscribers can be writers. If someone who isn't a subscriber want to write for my newsletter they get to show off their talents because I don't have any way to pay them back since I am living off government money and using subscribers money to make the newsletters. If I get another Editors issue and I like what was put inside I will ask for permission than if its okay I put it in my newsletter and let subscribers know where I got the article or story from!!

Payment: Cash, Checks or Money orders. You can pay for the newsletter via PayPal. Note that you will have to click on the "I will pay the fee" button as you send the money. Don't be cheap! For other payment options or questions contact: Vandine69(at)yahoo.com Write as Subject PPB that is the abbreviation for Pen Pal Book.

Information wise: It includes articles and Ads and all the fun sections that Kimberley told us about.

Ads from Pen Pals: Great job presenting the pen pals' ads!

Design: The design is a newsletter one, neat and clean. You can easily find your way to the sections that you can preview. You can contact the owner and get a sample from the magazine.